Searching for Occupational Therapy Schools near Kirksville, MO? Let us help you locate the perfect OTA program for you!

As youbegin your search for Occupational therapy Assistant schools in Kirksville, MO, you are going toquicklyfind that there has never been a better time topursue a career as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statisticsanticipates jobs within thisfield to grow by 43% over the 10 year period 2010-2020, this is over 12,000 new Occupational Therapy Assistant jobs! The better news is that the medianOccupational Therapy Assistant incomeis greater than $53,000 per yearwhich makes itamong the highest paying medicaljobs that does not call for a Four Year Degree.

Occupational Therapy Schools in Kirksville, MO

The initial steptowards a career as an OTA is selecting the bestOccupational Therapy Program. There are at this timealmost200 accredited occupational therapy schools in the United States and Puerto Rico and most of the schools accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) offer Occupational Therapist Assistant degrees and Master’s Degrees, with many also offering Doctoral degrees. Before you decide todive in anddecide on a training program, make sure that youconsider all of the optionsto makesureyou find an Occupational Therapy training program that fulfills all your preferences.

Details YouMust ConsiderWhen Choosing an Occupational Therapy School

Accreditation

Accreditation by the ACOTE is essential because you will becertainthat you are going tobe taught the full variety oftechniquesneeded to bean effective OTA.

Curriculum

Occupational Therapy Assistants assist patients on an array ofhealth conditions and disorders so it isessential that your training is very extensiveand not too dedicated toone particulararea of specialization.

Clinical Training

Another importantfactoryou must consider is the clinical education experience. This is yourhands-on training, and thisis whereyou actually interact with actual patients and put your abilities to use. Some schools dedicateconsiderably more time on your actual clinicaltraining compared toother training programs. In instances where your school is not investinga considerable amount of time with clinical teaching, be sure that youfind out why.

Class Size

Something else to look into is the class size. The size of the classeswill vary significantly from college to college. Make an effort to find out the class sizes at all the schools you are looking at. Try to remember, the smaller the classes , the more one-on-one teachingyou will get with yourtrainers.

Online Training

Taking Occupational Therapy Classes Online do not work for every student. However, for many people online training can easesome of the burdens of being a full time student. Jobs and householdare sometimespushed aside as students undertake their education and learning and online classes can offera bit of flexibility to a busy schedule.

Graduation Rate

The lastfactorthat you shouldlook intobefore choosing an Occupational Therapy School is the success rate of the training programsyou are considering. Make sure that you find out how many traineesgraduate from the program, what their opinions were, and how many of them have gone tobecome OTA’s.

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Programs:

Northcentral University was founded in 1996 to provide working professionals around the world with unprecedented access to richly engaging, professionally relevant, and academically-rigorous education from a U.S. university.

As a regionally accredited, private, online and graduate-focused university, NCU offers doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business, technology management, education, and psychology, as well as doctoral and master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy.

Programs:

Health Psychology - PhD of Psychology

Health Psychology - MA in Psychology

Master of Science in Health Psychology

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What to Expect in OTA School

Typically the course work is roughlytwo years, with the first year being mostlyclassroomteaching and with the second year spent doing hands on training in a healthcare facility or private medicalpractice. Some of the course work a student will be required to take involves pediatrics, gerontology, health carejargon, and physical rehabilitation. All States that require licensure simply wanta 2 year degree. A Bachelor’s Degree will berequiredif you plan on becoming a full Occupational Therapist, however you will find that almost all Occupational Therapist began their careers as Assistants and achieved their Bachelor’s Degrees several years later.

Licensing Information

Following graduation, those ready tobegin their careers have to become certified as an occupational therapist assistant. Every State has its own rules and specificationsthat are governed by an occupational therapy board, with many being private and some run by the State exclusively. In Missouri, licensing is controlled by the Missouri State Board of Occupational Therapy. Even thoughevery State is unique, there are a number of requirements that are common among the majority of them and include the following.

Any individualattempting to get an occupational therapy assistant licensemust be a U.S. citizen, must have a social security number and must have taken and completedapplicable college course work as well as taken and passed the NBCOT exam.

Every State requires a federal background check , but convictions are not necessarilyautomatic grounds for dismissal. Some States may consider approving an occupational therapy license as long as a written affidavit is submitted to clarify the circumstances of the conviction. Additional factors including time frame and nature of the crime may be evaluated and be considered to grant licensure .

Every State will provide an Occupational Therapy Assistant licensing kitthat is going tocontain many forms to fill out. You should notpurchase these forms from a third party since they can be found online from many reputableweb sites. It is advised to take a very in depth look through the paper work before trying to complete them. It will have official transcripts necessary; notarized signatures and many States will need you to turn in a fingerprint card that can be completed at a local police station.

Job Environment for Occupational Therapy Assistants

An OTA will work with a variety of patients who have needs which are oftendifferent the previous patient. You might beworking for an outpatient facility with kidsthat have food or texture aversions or maybe a hospital rehab facility working with a middle age patient with psychological struggles . Though an occupational therapy assistant hasmany job skills, a few of the basics like following direction, keeping up to date with the most current techniques and learning and using the available technologiesare extremely important. Finally, a COTA should be reasonably physically fit, asyou will encounter numerous instances of transferring patients around, including from a bed to a wheel chair.

If this looks like a career your interested in, then take a few minutes to fill out the search form at the top of this page. You will be shown a list of schools near Kirksville, MO that offer Occupational Therapy Assistant classes. Request information from as many schools as you’d like, and good luck in your future career!

Occupational Therapy Schools in Kirksville, MO reviewed by Chloe REYNOLDS on June 7.

Great Info

Thank You for creating such an informative website. I was able to get more info about the OTA schools in my area and chose one that worked for me. I’m now ready to start my classes and can’t wait to work as an Occupational Therapist.